Is it legal counsel or council?

It is legal counsel, not council. Counsel means to advise and can be used as a noun or verb, while a council is a group of people convened for advice or consultation and as such only ever used as a noun.

What is the difference between counsel and a lawyer?

The difference between counsel and a lawyer comes down to their role within the company. Legal counsel, for example, is employed by firms to handle all the legal matters and disputes that they may encounter and do not work independently. Unlike a lawyer who may have his/her own firm or may work independently as an advocate.

What Does A Legal Counsel Do: Duties And Responsibilities

We calculated that 11% of Legal Counsels are proficient in Legal Advice, Legal Issues, and Litigation. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Interpersonal skills, and Problem-solving skills.

"legal advice," "legal issues," and "litigation" aren't the only skills we found legal counsels list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of legal counsel responsibilities that we found, including:

Arguably the most important personality trait for a legal counsel to have happens to be analytical skills. An example from a resume said this about the skill, "lawyers help their clients resolve problems and issues" Additionally, other resumes have pointed out that legal counsels can use analytical skills to "initiated client contact, coverage analysis and liability investigation, established reserves, litigation management & budgeting and developed resolution strategy. "

While it may not be the most important skill, we found that many legal counsel duties rely on interpersonal skills. This example from a legal counsel explains why: "lawyers must win the respect and confidence of their clients by building a trusting relationship so that clients feel comfortable enough to share personal information related to their case." This resume example is just one of many ways legal counsels are able to utilize interpersonal skills: "employed interpersonal skills with outside counsel regarding litigation strategies for unresolved matters against the company. "

Problem-solving skills is also an important skill for legal counsels to have. This example of how legal counsels use this skill comes from a legal counsel resume, "lawyers must separate their emotions and prejudice from their clients’ problems and objectively evaluate the relevant applicable information" Read this excerpt from a resume to understand how vital it is to their everyday roles and responsibilities, "helped company develop and implement business and revenue growth strategies and improved company litigation and claims resolution efforts and processes. "

A thorough review of lots of resumes revealed to us that "research skills" is important to completing legal counsel responsibilities. This resume example shows just one way legal counsels use this skill: "lawyers need to be able to find those laws and regulations which apply to a specific matter, in order to provide the appropriate legal advice for their clients." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical legal counsel tasks: "researched and aided in the discovery of litigation evidence into the side effects of diet medications for major class action suit. "

Yet another important skill that a legal counsel must demonstrate is "speaking skills." Lawyers must be able to clearly present and explain their case to arbitrators, mediators, opposing parties, judges, or juries, because they are speaking on behalf of their clients. This is clearly demonstrated in this example from a legal counsel who stated: "led litigation aspects of all business segments devising legal strategies and recommendations to be presented to upper management. "

Lastly, this career requires you to be skillful in "writing skills." According to legal counsel resumes, "lawyers need to be precise and specific when preparing documents, such as wills, trusts, and powers of attorney." This resume example highlights how legal counsel responsibilities rely on this skill: "performed legal research and writing in support of federal administration objectives. "

See the full list of legal counsel skills.